Windshield towel dispenser and utility cabinet



w. H. WEST 2,306,579

ND UTILITY CABINET Dec. 29, 1942.

WINDSHIELD TOWEL DISPENSER A Filed Sept. 15, 1941 INVENTOR. MLFRED b. Marw aff ATTOENEY.

Patented Dec. 29, 1942 WINDSHIELD TOWEL DISPENSER AN UTILITY CABINET Wilfred H. West, San Francisco, Calif., assignor to Crown Zellerbach Corporation, San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of Nevada Application September 15, 19411, Serial No. 410,887

3 Claims;

My invention relates to utility towel cabinets, and particularly to a container for use by service stations in performing various service operations as a courtesy to motorists.

. The public has become accustomed to receive a considerable amount of free service as an accompaniment tothe purchase of gasoline and oil, Service stations have been forced by the pressure of competition into the performance of many small duties which add to the convenience and comfort of the motorist, but for which they do not receive any direct payment. Services in this class include the checking of air and water and the cleaning of Windshields and window glass. Other small courtesies, such as cleaning headlight lenses and sweeping outrthe floor of the car, are also rendered by the majority of good service station operators.

While these services bring no direct cash returns to the service station operator, they constie tute an actual expense to him in money paid for wages during the time necessary to perform the services and for the purchase of the necessary supplies. When the attendant is required to take unnecessary steps to get together his equipment, there is a distinct economic loss to the station owner, as well as a loss of time and consequent irritation to the customer.

In order to render these services as economically as possible, I havedesigned a utility cabi-- net which makes it possible to utilize a new method of windshield-cleaning and to keep all the supplies and equipment necessary for performing this and several closely associated operations in a central location, easily accessible to the service station operator.

It has been my experience that Windshields and other glass surfaces on a car may be cleaned most quickly and efiectively by using the commercially available types of paper towels, preferably in conjunction with a liquid cleaner sprayed or atomized onto the surfaces and then wiped off with a paper towel. The paper towels once used for cleaning glass are still good for removing oil and grease from the attendants hands or from the car.

My invention comprises, therefore, a cabinet into which interfolded towels may be inserted, with a storage space in which the partially used towels may be placed temporarily and from which they may be removed for further service. Itincludes also a waste compartment in which the towels which have been re-used may be thrown to await use in the grease pit or other final disposal, aplace for the solvent or cleaning material, and supports for whisk brooms for use in sweeping the inside of the car.

The cabinet portion in which the fresh towels are inserted is designed so that the entire unit maybe placed in the open without damage to the centralized container for all the equipment necv essary in performing courtesy operations in service stations. A still further object is to provide means for collecting in one place essential cleaning materials and protecting them from the weather. An additional object is to provide a neat and attractive utility cabinet which will improve the appearance of a service station by keeping unsightly cleaning material out of sight. These and other objects of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from an inspection of the drawing accompanying this application and a study of the following description; it being understood that I do not limit myself to the exact form of the utility cabinet shown in the drawing and that while I have illustrated a preferred embodiment therein, I reserve the r'ightto make such changes in the form or arrangement of parts as I may desire.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a perspective view of the utility cabinet of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side sectional view of the upper portion of my utility cabinet, showing the towelenclosing hood inopen position, taken as-indicated by line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is aside sectional view of the upper portion of my cabinet, showing the hood in closed position;

Fig. 4 is a top sectional view of my cabinet taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a'fragmentary sectional view of the towel cabinet, showing the position of towels therein during withdrawal. I

Referring now to Fig. 1, I have shown mycabinet, indicated generally as I, as a rectangular box formed of sheet metal and finished with a surfacing material which can be cleaned readily. The front portion of the lower half of the cabinet is closed by a front face 2, behind which a central partition 4 is inserted, extending from the front face 2 to the rear wall 5 ofv the cabinet. The partition} divides the lower portion of cabinet 1 into two chambers 6 and '1, into one of which, chamber 6 for example, towels which have been used only for windshield cleaning may be thrown. When the towels have been taken out of chamber 6 for use in cleaning the oil gauge stick, wiping the attendants hands, or removing oil and dirt from the car body, they may be disposed of temporarily in chamber 7 and periodically removed therefrom for use in the grease pit, burning, or other suitable disposal.

A rolled edge 8 may be formed across the top of front face 2, so that the attendant will not injure his hands when reaching rapidly into chambers 6 and I. Sufiicient open space is left above the rolled edge 8 topermit the use of the chambers 6 and 1 without hindrance and to allow easy access to the towels 9 which are held in the upper portion of the cabinet.

The towel cabinet portion, indicated generally at I0, is defined by the cabinet back wall 5, side panels II and I2, and a slotted bottom. Panels II and I2 are formed integrally with cabinet sides I4 and I5, indented therefrom along a line I6, sloping downwardly to the rear, and are cut away at forward edges I! for ease of access. A hood I9 completes the towel cabinet I9 and is attached by pivots to the upper rear portions of the panels II and I2. Hood I9 protects the towel supply 2| from the weather in its closed position, as shown in Fig. 3, and may be raised about pivots 20, as shown in Fig. 2 for the insertion of new towels.

The construction of hood I9 which I have developed to insure protection of the towel supply 2| will next be considered. The hood is made as a unit, comprising parallel hood side panels 22 and 24, each with a lower edge 25, sloping downwardly to the rear of the cabinet, a front 23 and a top 26. The lower edge 21 of the front 23 is re-entrantly curved at 21 to direct water dripping off the towel cabinet I9 away from the exposed towel 9. The rearwardly and downwardly sloping edges 25 of the hood side panels 22 and 24 are likewise so formed to guide dripping water away from the open front of the cabinet. The rear edge, of the hood top is curved at 29 to fit snugly about a corresponding rolled top edge 39 of the cabinet back wall 5. The mating curved edges 29 and 39 afford complete protection to the towel supply 2| from water directed against the cabinet from the rear in both closed and open positions of the hood I9. The transition from the top 26 to front 23 is a round edge 28 to allow water to run freely off the top 26.

Bosses 3| extend outwardly from the cabinet panels II and I2 to keep hood panels 22 and 24 properly aligned, and a spring catch 32- is fixed thereon to hold the hood I9 in raised position. Catch 32 comprises a resilient strap fixed by rivets 34 to the cabinet panel II, and having an out-turned locking lug 35 projecting through a slot 36 in the panel II. The catch 32 is restrained inwardly by the hood side panel 22 when the hood is closed, but springs outwardly when the hood is raised, projecting beneath the side panel rear edges 31 and preventing the hoodfrom dropping. The catch 32 is released by pressing the cabinet side panel II toward the center, withdrawing the lug 35 from beneath the hood side panel edge 31.

The construction of the towel cabinet bottom I3 is another particular feature of my invention. The towel cabinet bottom I3 comprises two shelf members 31, of identical shape, secured in mirror reversal by spot welding or equivalent means between the side panels I I and I 2, and spaced apart to define a slot 38, through which a folded towel 9 may be pulled from the interfolded towel supply 2I. Shelf I3 is downwardly tilted toward the rear, so that the towel 9 is held out toward the front of the cabinet for ease of withdrawal. The shelf members 31 include semi-cylindrical portions 39, downwardly curving at the front and back of shelf I3, upwardly curving semi-cylindrical crowns 40 of much smaller radius than portions 39, flat portions 4|, and downwardly and outwardly curving lips 42 bounding slot 38.

As shown in Fig. 5, the semi-cylindrical portions 39 allow the lower front and back edges 44 and 45 of the towel supply 2| to bend downwardly as successive towels 9 are withdrawn. This permits the trailing edge 46 of the towel 9 to be withdrawn from the following folded towel 47 with less friction and crumpling and more assurance of continuity of withdrawal. The crowns 40 act to support the towel supply 2| and minimize the friction during withdrawal.

My cabinet is supported preferably by mounting lugs 69, which are attached to the rear wall 5 of the cabinet. Lugs 60 are arranged to fit into a conventional supporting bracket, not shown, attached to any wall or post in the service station.

On the side walls I 4- and I5 of the cabinet I attached two cup-like receptacles 50 to receive a bottle 5| of windshield cleaning liquid. Receptacles 50 should be of proper size to hold a bottle of cleaning fluid 5|, and are so placed as to be most readily accessible to the attendant. Immediately beneath the receptacle 50 I secure a hook 54, on which may be hung a whisk broom 55.

With the utility cabinet of my invention, it will be seen that the courtesy servicing operations are greatly simplified over the prevailing practice, in which it is necessary for the attendant to pick up a sponge here, a shammy or rag there, and a whisk broom atstill another point. With my cabinet the operator may simultaneously withdraw a towel 9 in one hand and pick up the cleaning fluid bottle 52 in the other. He then sprays the windshield and wipes it clean with a towel, repeating the operation on any other glass surfaces which require it. He returns the cleaner fluid bottle 52 to its receptacle 59 and at the same time disposes of the used towel in the lefthand towel chamber 6. He may' then use the whisk broom 55 to brush out the interior of the car, and if any grease is observed on the car or on his hands he may remove it with a once-used towel from chamber Ii and dispose of it in chamber I. At periodic intervals chamber 1 may be emptied of its collection of dirty and greasy towels for reuse inthe' grease pit or to be thrown away.

The amount of time saved in each individual case by having'the towel, the windshield cleaning fluid and the whisk broom located closely together in a convenient container readily accessible to the attendant would seem to be small, yet I have found that in a busy service station the saving of even a few minutes per car will permit handling a substantially greater volume of business, and will increase the-good-will of the customer by preventing the annoying delays that the courtesy services frequently entail.

I have also found that the useof the paper towel and cleansing fluid combination allows far faster and more satisfactory cleaning of the windshield and windows in cars, and at the same time costs no more than other methods In addition, the continuous supply of partiallyused towels for cleaning ofi grease and oil encourages the attendant to keep the cars free from surface oil or grease, and makes it easier for him to keep his own hands and person clean and attractive. My utility cabinet tends to keep a service station neater in appearance by doing away with the usual unsightly collection of dirty rags and cleaningequipment which is so frequently scattered untidily about.

In summary, it will be seen that my utility cabinet makes possible more rapid and thorough performance of the courtesy services rendered to motorists by filling station attendants. The increase in speed with which these operations are performed saves money for the station operator by permitting him to handle a larger number of cars and is greatly appreciated by the customers since it represents a distinct saving in time for them.

While I have described my cabinet as being will be obvious that it formed of sheet metal, it could be made of plastics, wood, or any readily cleaned, weather-resistant material which can be attractively finished.

I claim:

1. In a utility dispensing cabinet, a towel dispensing chamber comprising sides and a back, a rearwardly tilted bottom disposed between said sides and said back, a slot formed centrally of said bottom, downwardly curving portions formed in said bottom along the front and back thereof, lips downwardly curved from saidbottom adjacent to said aperture, a hood pivotally secured to the upper rear portion of said side walls comprising a front, a top, and two side panels, said front having a reentrantly curving lower edge,

lower edges formed on said side panels sloping downwardly to the rear, a rounded back edge formed on said top, a curved upper edge formed along the back of said container and cooperating therewith, and a resilient catch arranged to hold said hood temporarily in open position.

2. The combination with an interfolded towel dispensing cabinet, of a bottom shelf comprising two shelf members mounted to define a toweltilted downwardly toward the rear and spaced to define a towel dispensing slot, crowned portions parallel to said slot formed in and extending upwardly from said members, downwardly extending recesses formed in said members parallel to said slot at the front and back of said shelf, and recurved lips extending downwardly adjacent to said slot.

3. A cabinet for dispensing interfolded paper towels, including a back and side panels, a bottom shelf comprising two shelf members mounted supporting plane to definea towel-supporting plane tilted downwardly toward the rear and spaced to define a towel dispensing slot, crowned portions parallel to said slot formed in and extending upwardly from said members, downwardly extending recesses formed in said members parallel to said slot at the front and back of said shelf, recurved lips extending downwardly adjacent to said slot, a hood having a front, a top, and side panels and pivotally attached to said cabinet side panels at the upper rear corners thereof, a lug slot formed in one of said cabinet side panels, a resilient member secured to one of said cabinet side panels, and a lug turned terminally outward from said resilient member through said lug slot and arranged to extend beneath one of said hood side panels when said hood is in raised position. 7

WILFRED H. WEST. 

